Jacqueline Woznicki

Program: Graphic DesignClass of: 2007

For CCM/Rutgers Graduate, Design Is Sweet

It may not have been love at first sight, but when Jacqueline Woznicki, of Jefferson, found a temporary job for Valentine’s Day on the CCM Job Board, it turned into the perfect match for a full-time design career.

The position was with Mars Direct Inc., a division of Mars Snackfood US, in Hackettstown. She worked on MY M&M'S Faces, a product in which consumers uploaded photo portraits, which were combined with custom messages on M&M'S® to create a personalized gift for Valentine’s Day.

“My job was to prepare the photos for print,” Woznicki says. “The position was originally meant to be temporary, leading up to Valentine’s Day, but they asked me to stay on.”

It was a sweet opportunity. The M&M’S website was undergoing a transition, so she was asked to contribute to the design work. “At first, I was doing design work only several hours a week, but it soon became my primary role,” Woznicki says. Today, she builds web pages, designs email newsletters and creates banner ads for the company.

“Recently, I participated in a photo shoot for clothing, dispensers and other M&M’S products for the online store,” Woznicki says. She does not know where the job will lead, but says it is a great name to have on her resume and offers solid design experience in a corporate setting.

“All previous work experience I’ve had has been with small companies,” Woznicki says, “This is a multimillion-dollar company with hundreds of people. It is a great experience to learn about the corporate environment and how it works.”

Woznicki earned an AAS in graphic design from CCM in 2007 and a BFA in visual arts from Rutgers in 2009.
“I’ve always enjoyed communications, and graphic design combines language and visual arts into one form of communication. That appealed to me. It also offers a lot of options once you graduate—everything from corporate identity work to package design and book covers. It’s a swiftly growing field with web design and interactive media added to the mix.”

Woznicki hopes in the future to pursue a master’s degree, and sees learning as a lifelong pursuit. She says to stay one step ahead in the field, it is necessary to always be learning new things. She scours the web for information on new software and design trends.

“My general education courses also have been incredibly important. I’ve already used what I learned in science, anthropology and literature in some of my designs. Everything you know helps you to think in new ways and that contributes to better design.”